The Slatest

Obama Beats Romney in Fundraising for the First Time in Four Months

A supporter cheers as she holds a cellphone with an Obama-Biden case during a speech by President Obama in Melbourne, Florida

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages

The difference wasn’t much, but certainly enough to claim victory. For the first time since April, President Obama’s re-election campaign and its Democratic partners raised more than Mitt Romney and his Republican committees in August, $114 million compared to $111.6 million, reports CBS News. Obama’s camp could barely hide its glee. It wasn’t just because it marked the first time the president and DNC had broken the $100-million mark, but also because it marked a huge increase from the $75 million they had raised in July, notes the Associated Press.

Obama’s campaign quickly began releasing fundraising data on Twitter, highlighting how its donor base had grown. The average donation in August was $58.31, and 97.77 percent of donations were $250 or less, wrote the campaign. On top of that, 317,954 people were first-time donors to the campaign, noted another tweet. Obama beat out Romney in total donors—1.1 million to 820,000—and percentage of donors who gave $250 or less—98 percent to 94 percent, reports the Hill. Romney’s numbers also represent a personal best for the campaign, and don’t count all the support he has from outside groups with deep pockets.

The president’s campaign had been doing a good job of burning through its cash faster than Romney, spending around $58.5 million in July, reports Reuters. Before the August report, Romney and the fund he shares with the RNC enjoyed a $60 million cash-on-hand advantage over Obama. The Romney campaign said it had $168.5 million cash on hand in August, although the Obama camp didn’t release a similar figure, notes USA Today.

Another factor working in Romney’s favor is that he’s free to use the money he raised during the primary campaign now that he officially accepted the Republican nomination.